Ruth Bennett Hutton Research 2013Chanhassen Pioneer Cemetery
Lot 22.8 Update Date 9/26/1997
Grave Status Occupied
Occupant Information
Name Ruth Bennett Hutton
Sex Female
Social Sec. No. 474 -22 -6571
Date of Birth 9/11/1899
Date of Death 5/5/1977
Interment Date 5/7/1977
Cause of Death Non - communicable
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Place of Birth Chanhassen, Minnesota
Place of Death Excelsior, Hennepin County, Minnesota
Age 77 W -dh
Marital Status Widow
Mother Miriam Julia Bennett
Father James Wilson
Children None
Occupation
Military Status
Baptized
Purchaser Information
Purchased By Ruth Bennett Hutton
Street
City, State, Zip
Phone
Date Purchased 2/12/1915
Amount Fee Paid 15.00
Date Int Fee Paid
Interment Fee 0 00
Spouse Information
Name Lee William Hutton
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone
Next of Kin Information
Name Harriet Wilson Elmblad
Relationship
Address 18516 Excelsior Blvd.
City_ State, Zip Minnetonka MN 55343
Phone 474 -6722
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Lot 22 8 Update Date 9/26/1997
Name Ruth Bennett Wilson Hutton
Comments /History Sister of Willis and La Moine Wilson, Ruth was the State Women's Auxiliary
Chairman 8/11/1941, American Legion State Convention. She became National
President and was awarded the French Legion of Honor, by President Charles De
Gaulle, for her part in rehabilitation of St. Die, a French town destroyed by
Germans
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a white cloth,• "sood' a -large bowl' of raspberry- ice.-remained "with Grandfather, thensons,Orris,Plelvin
Nowdays it would be a - punch -bowl.
This ice had been frozen by old Simon-,who
and Marley,;With Grandmother and hex.._sixweeks old
baby,. Miriam_ Julie) _left on foot with others toworked` 45 years for- the Burtons; in the old fash -'=board the boat for,. Big Island. The boat. became
ioned freezer on•the-backporch. There was a ham caught on a sandbar. Shortly after,a friendly In-mock on the South porch where the girls liked to dian from Shakopee arrived to advise all the "Set -stretch out. It was a pl'easant,hospitable home,tiers" that hostile, unfriendly Indians had beenand` I did enjoy this occasion and other similar stopped enroute. Throughout _the y_e_army. Grand -._similar occasions._ The H.J.Burtons`settled in parents lived on their Carver County farm, and the
thMinnesota area in 1861.(submitted by Mrs.Ward Indians would always stop and visit on their wayBurr,to and from Excelsior and Shakopee. My grandmother
Ruth Hankenson Mann Mrs. Lloyd F.Mann) 1897 I always gave them some tasty refreshments,and they
I was born in 1897 at the home of. my matern- -.became_very fond of their "friend ",.Ruth Bennett.
al grandparents', Mr. and Mrs. JohnC.Huntington.Hopefully some day there will be more time to e
Their house still stands at the end of William St.laborate with care and detail.
It was sold about 1903 or .1904 to Mr. -and Mrs.We participated in three Pageants and several
Charles Smith, whose son, .Robert, lived there Apple Days. At the time of- the of.the
until the early 1970's, when the house was bought Amusement Park, the Lee Hutton's owned and opera -
by Mrs. Guy Thomas for use as a stu.diora.ted the Excelsior Cafe. Nearly all the people in-
My lived in Minneapolis until I was volved in building the Park were cherished custo-
five, then we -moved to Glencoe where I went to mers. I have glowing memories of parties at sever -
school but_spent.most of my summer vacations, from al of our former hotels, Big Island Amusement 'ark,
1911 to in Excelsior with my grandmother. I.rides and parties on the streetcar boats. I re-
then attended the U of M one year and Winona Nor-member riding with Uncle Harley Bennett when he
Mal from which I. graduated in 1918. Fly first job.delivered the Sunday morning paper to Upper Lake
was teaching second grade in Excelsior, which i pa- trons -- leaving at 5:oo am.and crossing "Ye Olde`
taught for two .year, and then moved to the -first Narrows" as they were called about 1910! Uncle
grade in the same room, used s'o many years by:the Harley Bennett and Uncle Melvin Bennett owned and
beloved hiss Ella Stratton, whom I also adored as operated the Bennett Livery Stable of Excelsior
a child.before and after the -turn of the century. Antiqui-
In 1921 I was married to Lloyd F.Mann, son of ty Rose and the Handiwash Laundry now occupy the
ir.and 'firs. Charles Mann and grandson of the John building at 432 Second Street, Excelsior.
N W. Mann, who pioneered in Birch Bluff,We_lived on
a portion of the original Mann property-- rty 50
Fern Michael 1900 -
Moved to Excelsior in October,1919,having
N years. My husband died shortly after_our Golden
Wedding. It has been my great pleasure during my
spent summers in Excelsior previous to moving here.
whole married .life to collect reminiscences told me
Grandfather, Christian Michael,built. the house, in_
1880, at -205 Third 5t. Ecelsior. He and his wife,
by some of the very first settiers_of the Tlinnewashta Irene Elizabeth Warren,with their son,Char.les
areas, _ who_,have long since, passed on, and_ I am so WarrenMichael, three years old, lived in the board -
happy.to:know that .the_Excelsi.or -Lake Minnetonka _in house(3 /24 /1975 now the MarkKnowlton property)
Historical_Society -is doing_the same thing.:while their house was being built.
Ruth Bennett Wilson Hutton = 1899- .(Mra.Lee'Hutton) Resident since 1919- attended Minneapolis schools.
In 1862- My was six weeks old jot the 'Lite:Worked for Dr.StuartLaneArey ,1933- 1942.Excelsior
1 of the Indian scares, and I- believe oldest son,Willis,Librarian at Excelsior Community Library,1963 -1968.
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LAK MINNETOrA ' S
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HOTELS
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Lake Minnetonka's historic y
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hotels
ACT FIVE
125
Eberhart's lake home, dedicated as the summer capitol of the StatewithahugeflagppresentedbyMayorH.A. Morse to be raised overth otelFollowingthefire, the Minnetonka Record noted that the St. Alban's Clubwillcontinuetooccupypythesite...and a central clubhouse will be erected toreplacethehoteldestroyedbyfire." (The local Club had offeredsiteandbuildingexpenseswiththeAthleticClubof (
o t
proceeded on its own for some reason.)Minneapolis, but
I,
The St. Alban's Club may have been the nucleus of the new ST. ALBBEACHHEALTHRESORT. It claimed 14 acres of maple groves,
AN'
win andwith2,000 feet of lakeshore. Besides a superb bathing beach, the i
fieldss
resort had a
f
efleetofboats, launches and canoes. Other amenities included hotshowersand "masseurs for ladies and gents." There were bowling alleys, tenniscourts, horses and autos available.I 'And a choice of bungalows or tents, asidefromclubhousequartersandhotelrooms.
The 1915 -16 Resort Guide, published by the Minnea o 'rchangeofnametoST. ALBAN'S KEEPWELL RESORT. The manager, k HPhillips, could be reached "care of Leamington Hotel Club FloTheResortthenofferedcottageswithbathandelectricity, electric li htebathingbeach, an outdoor gymnasium, tennis courts, bowlin alle s
g d Itdancingpavilion; in other words, everything g Y and a frythingconduciveto "keeping well.
SLATER HOUSE /SAMPSON HOUSE
One scene from Minnetonka's magnificent outdoor ageantdepictedeventsinlocalhistorywasareenactmentofhed g of Leroywedf
of 1919 thatFrancisSampsonandElizaSpaulding.
f
furlough from the Civil War, te couple settled n Exc
when the groom was on Imusteredoutofthearmy. If they had to elsior after Leroy waswouldhavefoundtheironlychoice, in 1865, washoneymoon in a hotel, theydecadeslater, however, Excelsior had some twenty hotels andboarding
House. Two
including Leroy's own Sampson House at 500 Second Street.
arding houses,I
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a rs` x - , 3_ . h1'z -,,, 2 - - ,-, 4 -- ,,-_z,,_, r
1
128 Lake Minnetonka's Historic Hotels ACT FIVE 1
were to be year -round residents, as well as summer guests. (Imagine keeping
some 40 or more rooms supplied with wood all winter!)
After his hotel was ready for guests, L.F. Sampson, who had already been
postmaster from 1878 to '84, became interested in other business and it
community activities. In 1902 he served one year on the town's board of health,i ..%
and in 1908 became the mayor of Excelsior. As a judge, he is said to have 3 '
held court wherever he happened to be...even leaning against the front of the
meat market...or sitting in front of the WCTU's drinking fountain. "a=IInthemeantime, Sampson was delegating more and more responsibility to
his son, Walter. After working at the hotel several years as a chef, the younger
Sampson became its manager. His successor in charge of the kitchen was Mrs.
s -- .Marie Busley, who had worked at the Lafayette Club.l I
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aF y 1 741 iC ':.a t.`
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y During room of Sampson House
fi w°r g'Despite other interests, both father and son kept updating their hotel, adding
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Y'"" r . .modern improvements and amenities when available. Wood stoves gave way to –
steam heat , g as lights to electric, and porches were screened
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Guests arriving by streetcar or train could "secure either motor cars or driving
3 , 'ri s at nominal fi ures...for drives on lake shores." They could charter I'n
1 g ...g Y it
private lines of launches" or take a regularly scheduled trip of one to five hours
s M, so iv fl ro us e,yj z on a "streetcar boat" at 10 to 50 cents per trip.
1 XC,,E r, Jrjrw By 1914, the Sampson House advertising promised special attention given to
automobile parties arriving via "several first -class boulevards from the cities."
Dances were held every Saturday night, and the hotel claimed to be the only
meeting place for miles around.
One thing that didn't change was the promise of row boats, tackle, bait...andSampsonHouse, 1955
guides...available at reasonable prices, plus "full assurance of good strings of
piscatorial beauties."i
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130 Lake Minnetonka's Historic Hotels ACT FIVE 131
In 1945, after Hotel Del Otero burned, a city newspaper observed that the By the mid -1880s Morris owned 1,000 acres of land on Christmas Lake andSampsonHousehad "the distinction of being the lone survivor of the group of 2,000 acres on St. Alban's Bay, extending as far as Carson's Bay (inhotelsatMinnetonkathatwerefamousinattractingsportsmenandvacationersDeephaven). After building a two - story, year -round home on Christmas Lake,parts of the country ChfromallpryintheGayNineties."alongside the summer cottage he and his family had been occupying, he namedTheSampsonHousecontinuedtobefamilyoperateduntilitclosedin1960.his place Glen Morris, described in the Tourist as "one of the most beautifulTheownersattheclosingwereWebbSampson (grandson of Leroy F.estates in the area."
Sampson) and his wife Ruth, who arranged the sale and auctioned off the Besides making his home a showplace, the flamboyant Mr. Morris attractedfurnishings. The old familiar landmark was torn down in 1961, but the Annex attention whenever he drove his English dog cart through the countryside orstooduntil1974. An apartment house has now taken the place of the Sampson along the streets of Excelsior. And in the parade at St. Paul's Winter Carnival,House, the last of Excelsior's many hotels and boarding houses.he drove a stylish rig drawn by a unique tandem team.The play is done, the curtain drops." And then it lifts briefly for one more After their father's death, Tina Morris and her brother, William, added roomshotel...
to the main building (that had been their home) and opened it, in 1906, as Glen
j Morris Inn. Before long they built 15 cottages each with two to six sleeping
RADISSON INN
1
Ending this story of Lake Minnetonka's hotels with that of the RADISSON INN
suggests a change of metaphor. The Inn's story is comparable to the coda
Italian for tail) of a musical composition; namely, a "concluding section that is
formally distinct from the main structure." The Radisson was distinct from the lu ::
other historic hotels in three respects: location, timing and clientele.
In the first place, the Radisson Inn was not located on Lake Minnetonka, but
on the northeast end of Christmas Lake. Built in 1906 and destroyed by fire in i ., a di 11 i , ,
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s 41936, it was ashort- lived, 20th century phenomenon. And finally, with its ties
ttotheMinneapolishotelofthesamename, it "attracted celebrities from the
stage and sports world and prominent figures from the Twin Cities."
Furthermore, the last owner, a New York man, ran the Inn like a night club,
catering to his clientele by serving liquor and introducing gambling.
The Radisson Inn did, nevertheless, have roots in the past. The first building
on the site was the home of Charles J.A. Morris, an early pioneer who hoped to fin
make his fortune with land sales. A civil engineer with the Manitoba Railroad 3
and associate of James J. Hill, Morris (with two partners) platted the town of St.i
Alban's- complete with blocks, streets and alleys. But the town never Radisson Inn, Christmas Lake
materialized, not even after he built a sawmill there to attract business.